Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Letting her unwind meant letting her drink?

He had to have done it on purpose!

"You're obviously trying to take advantage of her!" Liliana hissed through clenched teeth. "You have ulterior motives when it comes to Cordelia. Don't think I don't know."

If she hadn't shown up tonight, Griffin would have gotten exactly what he wanted.

Unless… Cordelia had anticipated she'd get drunk and called Liliana here for precisely that reason?

Griffin said nothing. His expression turned noticeably colder—gone was his usual warmth.

He scooped Cordelia into his arms, ignored the stunned stares from everyone in the room, and walked out.

Ulterior motives. She wasn't wrong.

He wasn't generous enough to help another man chase the woman he loved.

Especially not a man who had hurt her again and again.

"Hey!"

Liliana bolted after him, but the moment she stepped through the door, someone caught her arm.

"Liliana, I finally found you."

The man's voice brimmed with the joy of recovering something precious—but to Liliana, it was the nightmare she'd been desperately trying to escape.

He'd found her.

Even coming back to the States hadn't been enough to shake him.

"Let go! I have an emergency to deal with—don't get in my way!"

She hadn't even known Kieran was back in the country. Otherwise she would never have let him discover her whereabouts.

"Emergency?" Kieran loosened his grip slightly but didn't release her. "You mean chasing after that man just now? Have you moved on?"

Liliana fell silent.

She didn't have the bandwidth to deal with her own love life right now.

She couldn't break free. She watched helplessly as Griffin disappeared from view.

But even if she caught up—what then? Even if she wrestled Cordelia away from him—then what?

Ellington wasn't here. Their relationship wasn't something she, an outsider, could fix.

Liliana spun around and glared daggers at the man who'd materialized out of nowhere.

"My sister-in-law just got carried off by another man. Happy now?"

---

Griffin carried Cordelia downstairs and spotted a man standing outside the hotel entrance, bundled up from head to toe.

The last time he'd seen someone dressed like that, it had been his brother on one of his covert returns.

But Ulysses was on an urgent mission right now—no way he'd be here.

Only one person would step in his path like this.

Griffin didn't intend to engage. He moved to walk around him.

"Where are you taking her?"

Ellington didn't budge.

He wasn't reckless enough to snatch her—that could easily hurt her.

"Home." Griffin's tone lifted slightly. "I think Mr. Sinclair and Mrs. Sinclair would be quite pleased to see me bringing her back."

"You're not taking her anywhere."

Ellington couldn't hold back. He stepped in front of Griffin, blocking his path.

If he didn't have the nerve to fight for her in front of his rival, what right did he have to keep her at all?

Griffin smiled. "I thought you'd given up competing with me."

His motives weren't pure, but he wasn't low enough to take advantage of a defenseless woman.

If Ellington hadn't shown up tonight, he'd only planned to deliver Cordelia safely to the Sinclair Villa.

Now that Ellington was here, of course he didn't want to hand her over.

But if Ellington couldn't even put up a fight—Griffin would only despise him more.

"What exactly do you want?" Ellington fought the urge to rip Cordelia from his arms. "Why do you keep inserting yourself between me and Cordelia?"

"You have the nerve to ask why? Getting hurt was your own business. You could have contacted Cordelia yourself to explain. But I'd bet you haven't called her once this entire week."

The light in Ellington's eyes dimmed. "She blocked me."

"Excuses."

Without Ellington noticing, Griffin had already reached the car. "If you really wanted to reach her, you'd have found a way. Don't think I don't know you've had people tracking Cordelia's every move."

"But what have you actually done? You heard one thing from me and decided she doesn't care about you. Am I wrong?"

Ellington's eyes widened. For a long moment, he couldn't form a single rebuttal.

"Cordelia knows you're hurt. She knows about the old injury flaring up. She did try to visit you—but your father stopped her."

Strictly speaking, Griffin wasn't lying.

He'd just omitted one detail.

"Ellington, do you still not understand? Your divorce wasn't caused by any single thing—it was the result of everything combined. And your biggest problem has always been that you don't trust Cordelia enough. You can't stand up to your father's pressure. And Cordelia, staying by your side, only gets dragged down with you."

"What right do you have to be angry at Cordelia? What right do you have to fake an injury and wait for her to come running?"

"Ellington, I have no respect for you."

Griffin got in the car. This time, Ellington didn't try to stop him.

He should have known. Faking an injury to lure Cordelia into visiting—it was pathetic. Childish.

But he'd done it anyway.

Why?

Probably because his brain had short-circuited.

---

Griffin settled Cordelia in the back seat, then returned to the driver's seat and pulled away.

Cordelia slowly opened her eyes. There wasn't a trace of haze in them.

She wasn't drunk.

She'd had a bit too much, yes, and had closed her eyes to rest for a moment.

She hadn't expected to overhear so much behind-the-scenes information.

So Ellington's leg injury relapse was fake.

She didn't find it particularly shameful. He'd probably run out of options and resorted to this lousy scheme, hoping she'd come see him.

His plan wasn't bad. She genuinely didn't want him hurt. She wanted to see that he was safe.

Too bad Flynn had intercepted her.

Once she'd confirmed he was fine, she saw no reason to pursue it further.

Who would have guessed he'd actually thrown a tantrum because she didn't visit?

It sounded so childish. Almost funny.

Cordelia actually laughed out loud.

"You heard everything?"

Griffin watched in the rearview mirror as she slowly sat up. His expression was complicated.

Then she probably knew he'd pulled a few strings of his own.

"I did." Cordelia rubbed her temples. "I'm sorry, Griffin. I've caused you trouble again."

Her emotions had gotten the better of her and she'd drunk too much. At least she hadn't actually gotten drunk.

"I approved the party. I booked the venue. You had too much to drink—it's only right that I take you home."

Cordelia didn't argue the point.

For as long as she could remember, whenever something involved her, Griffin always took the lead in shouldering responsibility.

"So Liliana's resignation was just Flynn's doing, then."

But what was done was done. There was no way to reverse a resignation and rehire someone that quickly.

Griffin's tone turned serious. "Cordelia, you've already left the Carnegie Villa. I don't want you to keep living under Flynn's thumb."

"I've said it before—I've always believed your marriage to Ellington held you back. Choosing divorce was the right call."

Better a sharp, clean break than a slow, agonizing one—even if her heart still stirred at the slightest news of him.

Cordelia was quiet for a moment. She didn't respond to what he'd said.

"Griffin, I appreciate everything you've done for me lately. But what's between Ellington and me—we'll work it out ourselves."

"I feel bad that our issues keep dragging you in and costing you extra worry."

There were already enough misunderstandings.

At the very least, now that the divorce was final, she didn't want those misunderstandings to keep following them.